Saucha and Surrender - The Niyamas and a Modern Yogic Philosophy for Health and Contentment

Today, most people agree that there are profound benefits to living a healthy lifestyle - mindfulness practices, daily exercise, and a healthy diet lead to a better quality of life. However, one can encounter many obstacles along the way. For instance, modern health gurus, fitness methods, and wellness brands advertise their specific means to healthier lifestyles, often disregarding, co-opting, or misrepresenting the ethical precepts upon which they claim to be based.

The art of a healthy, balanced lifestyle comes from observing and responding to what is actually going on in the present moment. In a class, the art of attention to the body and the breath is imparted by the language of the teacher and the overarching curriculum or goals of the method. Afterward, people walk away with a good feeling, but one they sometimes don't have the tools to replicate for themselves. That is, studios often become less schools of the human body and more a one-stop shop for that good, balanced feeling you just can't buy anywhere else. Students look outward for the effects, rather than inward for the understanding of their practice, which is the real gift. 

This talk is about an every-day approach to the basic ethical principles integral to yoga philosophy, as well as the influences from the Traditional Chinese Medicine theory of the five elements and the concept of yin and yang energies. It is a method that functions more like a curriculum, meeting the student with a self-actualizing "art thinking" at the very foundation. 

Producer:  Sylvia Channing

Sylvia Channing is an artist and yoga teacher based in Bridgehampton, NY. She is a mentor in the Yoga Shanti teacher training program and has been practicing various styles of yoga for the last 16 years. Sylvia is a graduate of Oberlin College with a BA on geology and has worked with schools across Long Island's east end to develop their school garden programs with Slow Food and Edible School Gardens of the East End since 2009. Her art, yoga practice, and gardening endeavors are all reflective of her goals of good thinking, wildness, and self-sufficiency.